Gatland’s side shipped 17 points in the ten minutes lock Jones was in the sin bin for his cynical and needless trip on England hooker Dylan Hartley round the fringes of a ruck.

With their full complement of players on the pitch, Wales outscored England by four points and Gatland was quick to pinpoint Jones’ binning as the game’s turning point.

“We felt that was a game we let slip from our grasp and we have had a yellow card which has been costly,” he said. “It has cost us 17 points.

“It’s a stupid thing to do and it was a massive turning point in this game, but I haven’t said anything to Alun Wyn Jones.

“Shaun Edwards has said something to him after the game, saying ‘I hope you never do that in your career again.’

“All of us have made an impulsive and costly decision. He has done that and it has hurt us.

“Hopefully, it will be a learning experience for him and he doesn’t do it again.

“We have to look at what we do about what he has done. We will look at the video but not playing next week is always a possibility.

“Players sometimes make stupid decisions or have poor performances and they want to rectify that.”

Wales had rallied from 20-3 down to come within three points of England at one stage before Delon Armitage intercepted a Stephen Jones’ pass which allowed James Haskell to get his second and the game’s decisive try.

But Gatland was nonetheless happy with how his troops fought their way back into the game after Jones’ moment of madness.

He added: “We got some quality ball in the second half. We looked incredibly dangerous with quick ball.

“At 20-17, I thought we were going to win the match, but unfortunately we then threw an intercept pass.

“It is a feeling of complete frustration, but I am proud with the guts the players showed to come back like they did.

“I am really proud of the performance in terms of the character we showed and I think you will see a really positive reaction.”